Falls, slips and trips consistently rank at the top of the list of causes of fatal construction accidents, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2011, 666 workers lost their lives as a result of falls, slips or trips, accounting for 14 percent of all workplace fatalities. Most of the deaths involved workers falling to a lower level. [Read more…]
Worksite Injuries and Accidents Up In New York City
The number of jobsite accidents and injuries in New York City and the surrounding areas has increased significantly just as the city has reduced oversight of worksites, according to a report by the Daily News. Specifically, city records show that jobsite accidents in New York City jumped from 119 in fiscal 2011 to 157 in fiscal 2012, an increase of 31 percent, while the number of injuries rose from 128 to 187, an increase of 48 percent. [Read more…]
Construction Workers Injured in Ithaca Accident
Two construction workers were injured in a construction accident this month in Ithaca, New York. According to news reports, construction workers were working on the site where a new Fairfield Inn is being built along Elmira Road on the morning of January 5 when the accident occurred. Two construction workers fell more than 30 feet. One of the workers was flown to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse while the other was airlifted to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania. The extent of their injuries is unknown as is the cause of the accident. [Read more…]
New Jersey Escalator Accident Injures Five Commuters
Each day hundreds of thousands of people use the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, or PATH, to get to school, work, or simply across town to visit friends. Last week, five of those commuters were injured in an escalator accident at the Exchange Place PATH station in New Jersey, reports the NY Daily News. [Read more…]
What to Do If You Are Injured in a New York Construction Accident
If you are employed in the construction industry, you have a one in 10 chance of being injured while on the job, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In fact, the construction industry has the second highest number of work-related injuries each year, behind only the transportation industry, per Bureau of Labor statistics. [Read more…]
Falls Are Common Cause of Construction Site Injuries
More construction workers are injured or killed in falls than any other kind of on-the-job accident, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In early November, for instance, a 37 -year-old ironworker at the Oswego campus of the State University of New York was fatally injured when he fell from a roof where he was installing metal decking, according to a report. The cause of the fall was not immediately reported, but all campus construction projects were suspended pending a review of safety. [Read more…]
The OSHA Complaint Process
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency in the United States Department of Labor whose mission is to “assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.” OSHA has the authority to issue and enforce safety regulations to create a safer workplace. [Read more…]
OSHA Warns Hurricane Sandy Workers to Use Caution
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration issued a warning this month to workers involved in the Hurricane Sandy cleanup in New York, New Jersey and throughout New England. The warning advises workers of potential hazards and suggests steps to help workers protect themselves. [Read more…]
$1,000,000 Awarded for Pain & Suffering due to Shoulder Injury
In Rubio v. New York City Transit Authority, the Appellate Division, First Department reduced a damages award of almost $2.5 million dollars to $1 million for pain and suffering due to a shoulder injury. Joseph Rubio was boarding a kneeling Transit Authority bus when the steps of the bus rose without warning, causing him to fall forward and hurt his shoulder. Of note, it was Rubio’s dominant shoulder which was later operated on to repair the subscapularis and supraspinatus. Rubio also sustained a post-operative infection at the surgical site. Rubio sued the Transit Authority alleging the bus driver was negligent in his operation of raising the kneeling bus while Rubio was still in the stairwell while boarding. Notably, Rubio did not report the accident to the police or Transit Authority, nor was an ambulance called to assist Rubio. Rubio also did not immediately seek medical attention; he went to work and only later went to see his doctor. Due to these misgivings, the Transit Authority argued that the accident never happened. [Read more…]
OSHA Tries to Protect New Jersey Construction Workers from Falls
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, urged New Jersey employers to protect workers from falls while on the job in a statement released last week. The announcement by OSHA follows investigations into four recent New Jersey construction accidents. [Read more…]